The Coffee Shop
by libertarianman
Summary: A short NickxJudy one shot. Judy has feelings for her fox friend, and it's bothering her day to day activities. When Nick invited her for coffee, she saw her chance.
1. Chapter 1

The patrol car was filled with silence. Nick seemed focused on driving and watching the roads whilst Judy was lost in her own thoughts, sitting by his side. The patrol car used to be a lot less dull than it was but something changed in the last few weeks that muted the mouths of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Well, mostly Judy. She was at fault for the absence of noise in their patrol car, eversince she started feeling "things" for the fox beside her, things have gotten a bit awkward. Before things were the way they were now, they used to chat about all kinds of things from Judy's parents to Nick's wild times on the streets. They used the radio to turn on some tunes, which they often sung along, and once a week they would stop by at Snarlbucks to get a cup of overpriced coffee, which Nick always complained about. Now, she could barely start a conversation with Nick and when Nick started a conversation, she couldn't help but answer with a short reply and revert to a state of awkward silence. They rarely turned on the radio for music now, only the police channel was on with occasional bursts of back-up requests and domestic disturbance calls. Everyday police worked was duller than she expected, but it became even duller with the constant silence in their patrol car.

Nick didn't seem to notice her change in behavior though, and it didn't bother him at all. Nick was always calm and collected, never showing anything but. Judy thought about confessing many times, and Nick's constant teasing and flirty behavior made her think he also felt the same way. However, Nick is quite unpredictable. Nick is so cynical and humorish at the same time, it's very difficult to tell whether he was cracking a joke or giving a political commentary let alone telling if his flirts were real or were simple jokes. Confessing wouldn't be easy either, after a weeks without coffee, Judy Hopps was a mess. She constantly twitched and felt weak and sleepy nearly all the time, it didn't help that late night shifts and paperwork was an everyday task for her. The Coffee withdrawal caused the usually bright and optimistic Judy Hopps to become a careless and nervous wreck.

Nick seemed to notice her internal monologue, either that or the constant twitching. The fox eyed her and said  
"Hey Carrots, you okay?"

 _OH SHIT,_ she thought. _NICK'S STARTING A CONVERSATION._ There was to much going on her mind and her response was anything but coherent

"What? I'm fine Nick. Really? Why do you ask? I'm fine", she blurted. The words came out with a stutter that Nick certainly noticed.

"No, you're not fine. Your ears are down and you've been very quiet lately, that's not the Carrots I know." He said. "You know, I think we haven't had coffee for a while, let's go grab some at that coffee shop you like so much." The fox offered, and with a slight tint of discontent said "My treat."

Judy seemed rather surprised at Nick's attitude, Nick never liked to purchase anything at Snarlbucks , he only ever bought Iced Coffee or a cup of espresso. And even then, he paid with an expression of regret and reluctance. However, Nick Wilde was asking her to get some coffee and she simply couldn't say no

"Yeah, coffee sounds good."

Nick knew the streets of Zootopia like the back of his hand. Sure, she was the better driver but she didn't have Nick's street smarts and the knowledge of back alleys and shortcuts. Nick's knowledge had avoided them the cruel fate of being stuck at traffic numerous times, including this one. With a few sharp turns and going through several back alleys, they had avoided Zootopia's nightmarish traffic and arrived at the Coffee Shop. They parked at an empty spot between two other cars, and stepped out of their vehicle to enter the shop.

The coffee shop was quite crowded, it was lunch hour after all. Their uniforms earned them a few looks from the coffeegoers but they were used to it. Thankfully,The line wasn't very long ,and the service was usually fast. "Hey Carrots, do you wanna talk abou-", Nick's question was cut short with Hopps slightly shaking her head. "Alright, then. Let's save it for later."

When it was finally their turn, they were greeted by a honey badger who took their order.  
"Welcome to Snarlbucks, may I take your order?", the badger asked

"I'll have iced coffee, thank you." He replied. "How about you Carrots?"

"Espresso."

"Well, you heard her. Iced Coffee and Espresso."

"Alright, that'll be twenty bucks.", the badger said.

Nick reached for his wallet and pulled out a coupon and handed it to the badger. The badger examined the coupon and winced his eyes. "Alright, it seems you will be paying with your coupon. Now please proceed to the next aisle to pick up your order. Thank you for coming to Snarlbucks." The badger didn't seem very pleased at Nick's coupon trick, but Judy could tell that Nick was pleased to not spend a single buck for coffee.

The two baristas, an otter and a lemur made quick work of their orders. Nick grabbed his iced coffee and handed Judy her espresso. The two partners found themselves a seat near the window and Nick still seemed curios on what was troubling his partner.

"Alright, you had your coffee, now can you please tell me what's wrong? It's been bugging me a lot.", Nick said. " You haven't been you lately, Carrots. The Carrots I knew would never order _espresso_ on Snarlbucks, she would order one of her fancy drinks like that Green Tea macchiato or that Eastern Zootpia special mix."

"Oh, I get it. They wrote your name wrong?", he joked. Judy didn't laugh though, and Nick's sly grin turned to a slight frown seeing his partner quiet and not herself. He really wanted to know what or _whom_ made her this way.

Judy sipped her espresso , and broke her silence.

"Nick, I've got to tell you something. And this "thing" is what has been bothering me for this past few weeks.", she said.

Nick seemed intrigued, his eyes widened and was fixated on hers. It's not everyday that Nick Wilde was truly serious about something.

"Alright, Carrots. What is it?", there was a brief pause. Nick spoke again. "Come on, I'm listening."

"Alright, alright.", Judy said. "Nick, you know we've been friends for a while right?"

Nick nodded in agreement and let his partner continue.

"At first, I thought we were _just_ friends. Coworkers. Partners. But things got complicated, and since I spent so much time with you I just can't help but feel that I… like you."

Nick's eyes widened again, and his expression showed nothing less than shock and pure disbelief. For the first time since they met, Nick Wilde was speechless. No clever retort, No cynical jokes, No returning argument. Just, pure shock.

"Look, Nick. I know what you think and I get it, you don't like me like I like you and that's perfectly –understandab-", she can't believe what she is seeing. Nick _laughed_ , he _laughed_ , uncontrollably. Judy didn't know what that meant, but she saw it as a rejection, a ridicule, and an insult. She was ANGRY.

"HEY! You don't have to rub your rejection on my face, jerk!.", her voice stern and clear. It silenced Nick but he still grinned his sly grin and said, "Who told you I said No?".

"You bunnies, always so emotional. ", he japed. Judy can't help but turn red with embarrassment, she shouted and mocked Nick and it turns out he liked her after all? Yet, he never said yes either. The little stunt Nick pulled made Judy remember that Nick was still a fox who liked to play tricks and made her look like a dumb bunny, It also made her realize that this was the same fox who was brave enough to challenge Abasi Bogo who was ten times his size in a battle of words. It reminded her that he was Nick Wilde the sly fox and Nick Wilde, her friend and partner.

"Look carrots, Judy. I've got to admit, I kinda felt the same way for a while.", Nick said. "You were always kind and compassionate even when I trick you and toy with your mind from time to time. Not to mention that you're kinda hot.", that one comment earned Nick a slap from her but it wasn't because of that particular comment, though.

"Why I'm very flattered, but the slap was for making me look like an idiot in a coffee shop.", and now it was Judy Hopps that grinned a sly grin.

Nick seemed amused though, and continued to tell his story, "Well, despite all of that I didn't think you felt the same way since, you know…..", he paused." You _were_ born in the country, you must have had a rather conservative upbringing.", he continued.

"Alright, Romeo. So are you gonna say yes or are you gonna leave me hanging?", the bunny said.

"Yeah sure, I'll be your boyfriend carrots." He said. "As long as you don't go to an overpriced coffee shop once a week."

"Alright, I'll go to Snarlbucks _twice_ a week then", she, wittily replied.

"Sure, but don't expect me to pay for you." The fox finished his ice coffee and rose up from his seat, he handed out his arm to Judy

"Alright now, my lady. Don't want you to trip over now.", Nick teased. Judy reluctantly held Nick's arms and walked to the exit.

They seemed to gain the attention of the other coffeegoers, but Judy didn't care. She was reminded yet again that it was Nick's bravado and comical attitude that made him so appealing to her, he was unpredictable and random. That randomness brings a lot of flavor unto the relatively bland routine of her lives. She won't what anyone says, she loved him, and he loved her.

And with the matter settled, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde went back to their daily routines, but when they walked out of that coffee shop, they walked out as a couple.

 **Well, that was it. I apologize for any spelling and grammatical mistakes I may have made. I also apologize for any flaws in dialogue and world-building. This is my first fic after a long break of not writing fics. If you happen to have the time, kindly write a review to give me feedback on how I can make future fics better. This was just a short "practice" I made, and I plan to write a longer multi-chapter fic in the future. So If you can spare the time, I could really use some advice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN : Due to somewhat popular demand and some people not knowing what one-shot means, I decided to extend this one shot with this chapter and _maybe_ a third chapter. I tried my best to fix any grammatical errors with this one and tried to make the dialogue flow a little bit better but I will need some more feedback. Thank You for reading this short fic and I hope that you like it.**

Judy browsed through her limited wardrobe in The Pangolin Arms. Picking the right outfit for her first date was harder than she thought. She thought about wearing something fancy like her red dress, the red dress wasn't anything terribly expensive but it was expensive enough to look good on her and give Nick a good impression that she was classy. Judy swiped it away though, she didn't want to overdress for a movie _save it for another day Jude_ , she thought. Next came one of her skimpier outfits, a t-shirt that revealed a part of belly, the same kind that most teenagers who had barely hit puberty wore.

The t-shirt just happened to come in a package with a pair of shorts, _short_ shorts, which went all the way to her upper thighs. Judy swiped it away, she didn't want to give Nick the impression that she was easy, _why do I even have these?_ , the same question could be asked about other oddities she found stocked in her wardrobe such as a long corduroy skirt that looks like it belonged to a nun to a polkadot shirt that looked like it was pulled straight out of her mother's wardrobe when her mother was still a teen. And then there was one of her checkered shirts, this one was made of warmer material than the ones she used when she was a temporary carrot farmer. The shirt had a black and red color pattern. She took it out of her wardrobe, it wasn't anything to formal and it wasn't anything revealing either, _perfect_. She decided to wear the shirt along with her blue Jeans as usual.

Just after she had finished dressing up, Judy heard a knock on her door. _Nick!_ , she thought, grabbing her purse and rushing to the door, turning the door handle which had often jammed, opening it. She saw Nick standing outside with his regular outfit, his usual green shirt coupled with his light brown khaki, although she noticed that his tie was noticeably absent. She was glad she didn't overdress because Nick wore the very definition of casual.

"Hey Carrots, are you ready?", he asked.

Judy took a long breath and sighed, _and so it begins,_ she thought.

"Yeah, sure.", she casually replied.

They went down the creaky staircase of The Pangolin Arms, every step they take giving off an ominous creek all the way to the exit. Thankfully, Nick parked his car right in front of her apartment.

"Sorry it's nothing fancy but this old girl is still reliable", Nick spoke of his car of course. Indeed it was nothing fancy, but it wasn't completely junk either. It was an old muscle car, likely older than she is. The car's body was still in notably good condition, the paint was still good and there were barely any scratches. Nick certainly took good care of it.

Nick opened the rear door for her, complemented with a sarcastic bow. "My lady.", he said as if he was letting a princess into a carriage. Judy played along with his recurring gag, and went in. "Thank you, good sir.", she said, giving her best try to mimic the accent of a noblewoman. Nick moved to driver's door and entered the car whilst chuckling at Judy's comical response.

Nick put in his key and started the engine , the whole car seemed to vibrate because of it. Judy had a look of confusion on her face, but she brushed it off once she figured that the car was a manual which she wasn't very used to, the police cruisers she normally drove at the job was automatics after all. Nick slowly let go of the clutch and pressed on the gas pedal. They finally drove away from the Pangolin arms and were on the road to the movies.

Nick seemed more relaxed than he was when he drove the police cruiser, not that he was very serious when he was on the job, whilst Judy handled police work very seriously and wouldn't leave a stone unturned in a case, Nick on the other had was always more relaxed which isn't necessarily a bad thing, his more playful approach to a situation helped deescalate it, she hated to admit it but Judy was more trigger happy than she liked to be. Nick playfully tapped his wheels, mimicking a tune of some sort and out of boredom decided to turn on the radio, The station he tuned in was playing a Gazelle song and Judy can't help but hum along.

Nick wasn't very pleased about her choice and tuned the radio to a different station, "Jeez, how could you like that kind of thing?".

"Oh come on, you like Gazelle. You even went to her concert!", she teased.

"It was that only that one time and I only went to the concert because you did." Nick scoffed, seemingly irritated.

"Well, isn't that cute?", she teased. " Looks like you liked me long before I liked you.", she giggled.  
Nick seemed irritated by her teasing, she nearly felt sorry for him if it wasn't for _his_ constant teasing which she had to deal with everyday.

"Alright, alright. You had your fun carrots, ha ha.", he wasn't irritated though. He seemed to like Judy's little teasing, he was a good sport. A small victory for the little bunny but then again, if teasing was a sport then the score would still be 99-1 on Nick's favor.

Even though Judy's teasing didn't bother him, her music choice certainly did. Nick had already heard " _Try Everything_ " at least fifty times, He heard it on the subway, He heard it on the mall, He heard it every time Judy drove the cruiser, they even played it on the ZPD radio station. Which was not a surprise , the mammal who hosted the ZPD radio station from the comfort of the front desk was none other than Benjamin Clawhauser and as a result Gazelle's songs were regularly played at the station, despite numerous complaints from like-minded officers, Chief Bogo made it clear that he wasn't going to prevent Clawhauser from playing Gazelle's songs at the ZPD station. He has had enough, Nick wasn't about to let his eardrums bleed and decided to change the channel.

"Let's listen to some _real_ music shall we?", Nick tuned the radio to another station which played classical orchestra songs. He sighed out of relief and leaned back, looking rather smug and pleased with himself "Call me old fashioned, but nothing can beat Molezarts 5th symphony."

"And here I thought you were into gangsta rap and bass drops.", the bunny said.  
Judy didn't mind that Nick changed the station, she had a diverse taste in music after all. She had one or two classical pieces in her Ipod which she often played during long hours of paperwork to calm her nerves, so she just went along with it and enjoyed the music.

The traffic was particularly jammed today and not even Nick's knowledge was able to stop them from getting a little stuck in Zootopia's endless maze of roads. They eventually made it to the cinema even if it was a bit late, Nick parked in an empty spot between two cars and quickly hopped out of his car, they were running late and they haven't even bought tickets. There was no time for roleplaying the noble lady and his mustang driver.

The cinema was packed with moviegoers of all shapes and sizes, they could see a hippo still dressed with his business suit lining up to buy his tickets and an plus-sized tiger which looked eerily similar to their desk greeting friend, Benjamin Clawhauser among other things. Nick dragged Judy by the hand to line up at the ticket booth for the medium-sized mammals, right between the booths belonging to their larger brethren and their smaller relatives. Nick and Judy was at the end of a rather long line and Nick seemed rather disappointed by his lack of agility. The line wasn't particularly fast either, the mammal in the ticket booth was a weasel who was probably at his first day on the job.

Judy's hearing managed to catch the complaints and curses the moviegoers were throwing at the amateurish actions of the ticket attendant. _Damn amateur!,_ _Get your shit together!, Where's the usual guy?, I would like to have a word with your manager!_ , the insults reminded her of her days as a meter maid where insults like that passed through her ears on a daily basis. She would've felt sorry for the poor weasel but the line was really getting to Nick, who frowned and seemed rather displeased with the situation or _himself_.

Judy gave Nick a light nudge, Nick turned his head to face hers, "Hey, you okay there?", she asked.

Nick gave her a cold shoulder but Judy could tell he was feeling a sense of guilt by the way he was moving, he can't seem to stand still and the way he was looking at his phone every five seconds to look at how late they were made her worry for him. She also noticed a tint of regret and stress in his face, and Nick _very_ rarely showed any signs of stress or regret.

"Sorry", he said. "I should've picked you up sooner."

Nick's apology made Judy felt a little bad for asking how he felt, she had never seen Nick apologize for something as trivial as being late for watching a movie. And yet, it _was_ their first date.  
"Awh, Nick.", she said, giving him a big reassuring hug. "You worry too much. I don't care if we're late for another hundred times.", she paused, her eyes fixated on his . "Because that means even though I'm late, I'll be late with you." Nick seemed to smile at her comment, a smug grin returning to his face. "Judy?", he asked.

"Yeah?", Judy answered, her bright purple eyes still fixated with Nick's emerald green eyes.

"That was so fucking cheesy."

Judy instantly broke her hug and half-pushed Nick away. She wasn't very pleased with how Nick took advantage of her emotions or rather _his_ emotions to pull off a stunt like that.

Meanwhile, Nick Wilde can't help but laugh at his own witty remark whilst Judy stood there, red-faced, not believing what she had just heard. _And that'll be 100-1 in favor of Nick Wilde_ , the sly fox thought.

"Alright, alright", Judy said. "I guess that's what I got for teasing you back in the car.", the bunny sighed, giving in to Nick's superior teasing skills.

To Judy's surprise, Nick broke his laughter and hugged her again, this time kissing her forehead.  
"Still love you, though.", a whisper spoke to her ears. Judy can't help but hold him tighter at that.

"So, tickets for two or should I rent you a room?"

Their eyes opened wide, the little drama that has unfolded made them forget that they were still on a line for a movie. It didn't help that the other moviegoers were giving them dirty looks for not immediately buying their tickets.

Nick unceremoniously broke the hug and spoke to the cashier. "Two tickets for Mammal of Steel please.", he said, handing the weasel twenty bucks.

"Alright, so where would you like to-"

"I'd take F6 and F7.", Nick said, cutting the weasel between his sentence.

The weasel sighed and handed him his change of fourteen bucks along with their tickets.  
Nick whisked the ticket away from the weasel and dragged Judy in to the cinema. They skipped the snack bar and went straight into the right theater.  
The movie had already started by the time they went in , Nick and Judy found their seats at F6 and F7 in the medium mammal's part of the theater and sat down for the movie.

"You know, I half-thought you were going to take me to a chick-flick.", Judy snarkily commented.  
Nick shrugged her comment and instead adjusted himself to his seat. "You'll find that I'm full of surprises, Hopps." , he said, grinning his sly grin.

"Oh just shut up and watch the movie.", Judy jokingly replied, giving Nick a mock punch at his shoulder.  
They would've continued bantering if it wasn't for a fellow moviegoer, a ram dressed in A Super Mammal shirt shushed them into quietness.  
Judy reddened with embarrassment, and didn't speak another word throughout the movie.  
Nick on the other had was happy with himself. Their first date certainly wasn't perfect at all but it was memorable. And the most important thing, which he wouldn't admit was even though it wasn't perfect at least Judy was there and that, _that_ made it perfect.


End file.
